Transocean’s backlog stands at $6.1 billion in the wake of $610M rig deals

February 20, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Switzerland-based offshore drilling contractor Transocean has obtained multimillion-dollar assignments and extensions for seven mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) from its rig fleet.

Transocean Deepwater Skyros drillship (former Ocean Rig Skyros); Source: Egon Stefanic

Within its latest quarterly fleet status report, Transocean confirmed an aggregate incremental backlog associated with new fixtures of approximately $610 million. As a result, the company’s total backlog is around $6.1 billion as of February 19, 2026. The firm explains that OMV Petrom exercised a one-well option for the Transocean Barents semi-submersible rig in Romania at a day rate of $480,000.

While BP awarded a three-well contract in Brazil to the Deepwater Mykonos drillship, the same rig secured a 90-day option with Petrobras. The Deepwater Skyros drillship landed a six-well contract with an undisclosed player in Australia. This deal comes with options up to an incremental 900 days.

The Transocean Enabler semi-submersible rig obtained three fixtures with Equinor for a total of seven wells in Norway at a day rate of $455,000. An unnamed operator handed out a seven-well extension to the Transocean Encourage semi-submersible rig in Norway at a day rate of $416,000.

Woodside utilized a three-well option for the Transocean Endurance semi-submersible rig in Australia at a day rate of $419,000. The Transocean Equinox semi-submersible rig won a one-well option with an undisclosed company in Australia at a day rate of $540,000.

Keelan Adamson, Transocean’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “During 2025, we took significant strides to strengthen our capital structure, sustainably lowering costs, and ensuring we continue to deliver best in class service to our customers around the world.

“At just shy of 98%, we delivered our best uptime performance on record while making significant progress in strengthening our balance sheet by retiring approximately $1.3 billion in debt principal and saving nearly $90 million in annualized interest expense.”

Transocean’s operating revenues were $3.965 billion, up 13% from $3.524 billion in 2024. While the revenue efficiency was 96.5%, up from 94.5% in the same period in 2024, the net loss attributable to controlling interest was $2.915 billion.

With an adjusted EBITDA of $1.37 billion, up from $1.148 billion or 19%, the cash flows from operations were $749 million, up $302 million or 68%. The firm’s free cash flow was $626 million, up $433 million from $193 million last year.

While the total principal amount of debt reduced to $5.686 billion, down $1.258 billion or 18%, the total liquidity was $1.507 billion, including undrawn revolving credit facility. Transocean added $839 million in contract backlog at a weighted average day rate of $453,000.

Adamson added: “In 2026, Transocean achieves its 100th year as a company. As we proudly celebrate this centennial milestone, our primary objective will be to exceed our customers’ expectations by delivering safe, efficient, and reliable operations, thereby creating value for our shareholders. We believe that our recently announced definitive agreement to combine with Valaris is entirely consistent with these objectives.

“Customers and investors alike will benefit from the expanded fleet of best-in-class, high-specification rigs and strong pro forma cash flow which improves our financial flexibility, enables accelerated debt reduction, and continued investment in our people, assets, and technologies to enhance the delivery of our services.”

View on Offshore-energy.